you said, in part, washington has become possessed by the idea that a small group of negotiators, meeting in secret, can solve the deep, painful, and systemic problems plaguing this country with a single grand bargain, produced at the 59th minute of the 11th hour. this is a siren song. i suppose the question would be then, what makes you think, senator, that a larger group of lawmakers, say congress, would be able to do any better, given the unbearable gridlock that you all have been in, and given the fact that gallup has polled you all at 10% favorability. what makes you think you can do better? >> ashleigh, i think, had we been debating for the last two years openly and honestly, the very difficult choices this country faces, the threat we have over us from the debt, the american, and we've done so intelligently and effectively, and our members are capable of that, i believe the american people would have a better -- >> but senator, i think there are a lot of people who disagree with you and say, open and wonderful debate, sure, but the filibuster stops a lot of that from happening, and